Les Scavengeurs des Techno-Objets

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Les Scavengeurs des Techno-Objets

Millions and millions of tons of obsolete machinery are scattered about the country. Objects that cost millions to design, build, use - and, finally, trash - now lie inert in scrap heaps and salvage yards. Some of the junk is scientific equipment, some is cast-off hardware from the postwar military-industrial complex, and some of it is very, very beautiful.

Want a stylish brace of 4-foot-high silver tubes once used in cryogenic research? Or maybe a Teflon-coated matting from a Trident missile canister? Or an earthquake compression bushing for highway bridges that looks like an overgrown bar of soap? Not to worry - Electrokinetics's EKG Gallery has it. Situated on the fourth floor of a warehouse in New York's NoHo district, the EKG Gallery is a haven for art aficionados trolling for gorgeous technological garbage.

The gallery's centerpiece is a hand-rubbed aluminum CJ805 jet engine from a 1960s-era Convair 880. The thing is 16 feet long and 4 feet wide and weighs a hell of a lot, but imagine what a conversation piece it will make! Plus, it's a steal at only US$25,000.

"We're going after people who are bored with the art world," EKG cofounder Leo Fernekes says. "Our typical customer has always been in love with technology and now has the means to relish that appreciation."

A 6-foot-3 inch wraith in black jeans and enormous black boots, Fernekes seems an unlikely harbinger of retrotech design. But as a fabricator and engineering whiz, he has long been drawn to the beauty of machines - and, working with partner Stefan Rublowsky, he's now translated that appreciation into a burgeoning gallery business.

All that background comes into play as Fernekes roots around a Southern California salvage yard, "absolutely orgasming" over all the machines and equipment baking in the sun. "Omigod!" he practically moans, pointing to a giant glass cylinder with pipes and gauges inside. "Look at that! It's a Hydra-Set Model C!" The monstrous device once measured fluid pressures in increments of tens of thousands of pounds per square inch. Form followed function, and, by happy chance, it looks cool. Best of all, some New York style junkie is going to pay a pretty penny for it.